Moroccan avocado producers and exporters rallied on January 15th, in the city of Kénitra, at the call of the Moroccan Avocado Association. Abdellah El Yamlahi, president of the association, said: "The industry needs to speed up its integration process in order to respond to market changes. We are nearly 150 producers and exporters gathered today to discuss the pressing needs in the sector. International competition forces us to take up quality challenges if we don't want to fall behind and lose the strategic assets we've acquired."
The exporters' representative sums up these quality challenges: "If we want to gain more market share, especially in the new markets we hope to open up such as the United States, we need to think not only in terms of size but also in terms of the aesthetic appearance of our products. We need to produce avocados graded at the maximum limit of Class A, and not just seek to exceed the tolerance threshold."
Expansion into new markets is crucial for the Moroccan avocado industry, which breaks its all-time production record every year. El Yamlahi comments, "It's one of the most talked-about challenges. It's not just Moroccan production that's currently on the rise. Worldwide, production is growing faster than consumption. Global avocado consumption is currently growing at a rate of 4.85%. We are currently in a phase of overproduction, in Morocco as in many parts of the world."
"However, this phase is only short-term," El Yamlahi adds. "Production growth is limited in time, and sooner or later we'll reach a saturation point, due to the limits of cultivable surfaces. Consumption, on the other hand, will continue to increase linearly, if not exponentially, as more and more people come to appreciate the benefits of avocados."
In addition to the issue of production in terms of volume and quality, the need for integration of the industry was discussed at length during the meeting. The sector currently has two representative bodies: the Gharb Growers' Association, and the Exporters' Association (MAVA). El Yamlahi says, "We need a unified body that integrates everyone, as well as other players in the avocado value chain in Morocco. More specifically, we need an inter-profession to be able to discuss with the government. This process has been launched, and the interprofession will see the light of day very soon. We have also launched the process of organizing the Morocco Avocado Conference, which will be the industry's regular gathering, and it will be launched soon too."
With no interprofession until now, growers and exporters found themselves sidelined a few years ago when the government decided to suspend irrigation subsidies for avocados under pressure from public opinion, without consulting industry players. "It was an arbitrary decision taken in our absence. When we have an interprofession, we'll have a body that represents us in discussions and negotiations with the government in this kind of situation. Fortunately, we have in the meantime won the debate of ideas, and proved pedagogically to the public opinion, through the national and international media that avocado production is not an evil industry that depletes water."
El Yamlahi also commented on the current season: "With a production of 90,000 tonnes, this year will set a new all-time production and export record. This large production, in the context of fierce competition, caused prices to fall this year. Right now, prices have risen a little compared with the start of the season, but we know that won't last all season."
For more information:
Abdellah Elyamlahi
Moroccan Avocado Association (MAVA)
Tel: +212 678732391
Email: [email protected]